Knowe of Skea
The Knowe of Skea was a large grassy cairn , at the end of the Berst Ness, in the extreme south of the main mass of the Orkney island of Westray in Scotland . It had a diameter of about 26 m, a height of about 2.7 m and was slightly disturbed on the top. Traces of undefined dry stone wall structures and midden material ( Iron Age ceramics, burned stones, animal bones and limpets) protruded from the south side, where the hill had been eroded by the sea. Ceramic shards and a grindstone fragment were found on the mound. The pot fragments and the size of the heavily eroded mound indicated a brochure location . The finds were brought to Tankerness House Museum.
Rescue excavations on the Knowe der Skea and five smaller burial mounds in the vicinity revealed from 2000 that it was instead an unusually large chamber in the middle of the hill, which was modified several times and contributed to the understanding of Mine Howe . The chamber appears to have been intentionally filled with large amounts of fish bones, mussels and animal bones. The surface of the mound is littered with fragments of bone that have been dated to 700 AD.
Over 100 burials were found (mostly young adults and newborns). Complete burials were usually buried in the lateral fetal position. There were also non-bone human remains, some of which were built into the walls and floors of the buildings. The dumping of a human corpse and a cattle under the wall of the main structure, which, however, was empty and is to be regarded as a kind of morgue, is to be understood as a construction sacrifice. In the middle of the Iron Age, the “morgue” of the Knowe o 'Skea was modified to include a staircase leading to a small underground chamber, as in Mine Howe. This chamber, which has no practical purpose, appears to have had an additional function.
The external complex with buildings C and H in the walls of which three skulls were walled up, as in Mine Howe, formed a focus for metalworking. Given that there is archaeological evidence of intermittent use of the square, the metalwork was done solely in connection with the funerals. The five smaller structures on the Berst Ness have also been identified as graves.
Web links
- Entry on Knowe of Skea in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland's database
- Description and images Orkneyjar
- Picture before the excavation
Coordinates: 59 ° 15 '32.9 " N , 2 ° 58' 53.2" W.